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More than 35,000 people moved out of Ventura County recently. Here are some of their stories.

“I just knew it was finally time to leave, not only Camarillo and Ventura County, but the state,” Debbie Brooks said. “I knew we couldn’t afford to retire here unless we became millionaires.”

Brooks said they initially planned on buying a second home in North Carolina and waiting until retirement to move. However, they quickly realized paying two mortgages would be difficult, and they “couldn’t pass up” the opportunity to move. They sold their three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,379-square-foot home in Camarillo for $555,000, and bought a three-bedroom, two-bath, 2,000-square-foot home in North Carolina for $139,000. Their mortgage payments dropped from $2,600 a month to $730 a month.

Brooks also said Ventura County was starting to feel crowded, which played a role in her decision to move.

“Cities like Camarillo keep building more homes, and they say they are working on building affordable housing, but people still can’t afford that housing. It is still expensive,” she said.

On the left is Robert and Debbie Brooks' three-bedroom, two-bath home in Camarillo, which sold for $555,000 in March. At right is the three-bedroom, two-bath home they bought in North Carolina for $139,000.(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS/DEBBIE BROOKS)

Leslie Perry, who moved from Ventura to Fresno two years ago, says that in addition to making housing more affordable, moving improved her family’s quality of life. Like Brooks, Perry was born in Ventura County and lived here most of her life.

“We’re happier here and my daughter is blossoming in school,” she said of Fresno. “We are able to connect as a family in a way that was difficult in Ventura because we were always so busy working,” Perry said. She previously commuted from Ventura to Santa Barbara, and her husband commuted to the Conejo Valley. She also notes that with less financial stress, she can stay home with her 3-year-old son.

“After having my son, I went back to work when he was 2 months old, which felt way too soon,” she said. “Now I can stay at home with him, which wasn’t an option I had in Ventura at all — I had to be working.”

The family is buying a home in Fresno, which Perry says would have been impossible in Ventura, where they rented and occasionally lived with family members.

The Perry family recently moved from Ventura to Fresno, where they are shown here.(Photo: Leslie Perry)

“Buying a home in Ventura County was something we could never fathom. That was not a dream we thought we’d ever be able to achieve, but now in Fresno, that dream is possible,” she said. “It is so much more affordable everywhere else, and Ventura needs more affordable housing because families like mine are getting pushed out. Not everyone can afford $3,000 a month for a house.”

Moving out of Ventura County also allowed Natalie Deakins to buy a home. Deakins moved to Oroville in Butte County just a few weeks ago with her 2-year-old son. She grew up in Oroville and has family there, but says that wasn’t the primary reason she moved.

“I didn’t necessarily move because I needed to live near my family. It was because of the cost of living in Ventura. Otherwise, I would have never left; I loved Ventura,” she said.

Deakins lived in Ventura for 15 years and worked as a paralegal before moving to Oroville, where she bought a three-bedroom home for $230,000.

“I’ve seen how much rent went up in the past 15 years, and there’s no reason why rent should be as high as it is in certain areas in Ventura,” she said. “There was no way I could have bought a home there, even with an amazing job.”

While some residents are holding on for now, they worry about having to move soon.

Carolyn James and her husband plan on retiring in western Washington after their only child and his family left the county last year.

“The reasons people leave goes beyond just jobs and housing costs. It is a much longer list, including high taxes, overall cost of living (gas, groceries, almost everything), and traffic congestion. That being said, there is so much we love about Ventura,” James said in an email.

For those considering a move, Brooks advises visiting the place first and making sure that if you’re accustomed to certain weather or amenities in Ventura County, you’re ready to adjust.

“You need to find a place you can adapt to, because I’ve never lived anywhere else and always told myself I could never leave Ventura County,” she said. “But I did it, and I learned to adapt.”